Saudi Arabia has banned the color red for Valentine's Day!
"As Muslims we shouldn't celebrate a non-Muslim celebration, especially this one that encourages immoral relations between unmarried men and women, " Sheikh Khaled Al-Dossari, a scholar in Islamic studies, told the Saudi Gazette, an English-language newspaper.
Every year, officials with the conservative Muslim kingdom's Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice clamp down on shops a few days before February 14, instructing them to remove red roses, red wrapping paper, gift boxes and teddy bears. On the eve of the holiday, they raid stores and seize symbols of love.
The virtue and vice squad is a police force of several thousand charged with, among other things, enforcing dress codes and segregating the sexes. Saudi Arabia, which follows a strict interpretation of Islam called Wahhabism, punishes unrelated women and men who mingle in public.
So how does one get married exactly?
Thought control police, out to get you!
OMG! This so sounds like cartoon villianry. Can the care bears / Starberry Shortcake / My Little Ponies / etc save the day ?!
Hat's off to these people who are sooooo stupid to let their fairytale police completely fark their lives - good job!!!
Ambassador Adel A. Al-Jubeir
Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia?
601 New Hampshire Avenue,
NW?Washington, DC 20037
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz
c/o The Equestrian Club of Riyadh
PO Box 26323, ?
Riyadh, 11486 ?
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Love, love will bring us together...
Happy Valentines to all you kooky creatures, by the way. I'll be alone. :-(
I dated a muslim.
I doubt they would have been impressed with this either. Stupidity is pretty universal.
Can Islam get modern? Tough question.
Can you predict tomorrows Lotto numbers too?
It isn't about Islam. It's about one group forcing their beliefs on another group under threat or penalty of harm. I don't see a difference between the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice actions and those of the KKK enforcing Jim Crow rules. It goes against universal harmony.
This is expressed in "eastern" thought as well:
"Thus the Master is available to all people and doesn't reject anyone."
"The moral man does something, and when no one responds he rolls up his sleeves and uses force."
"Whoever relies on the Tao in governing men doesn't try to force issues or defeat enemies by force of arms."
Our "western" culture does not always live up to the ideals upon which it is founded. However, we do not issue idicts of death upon those who insult us with words.
Islam is about intention. We get rewarded if we intend to do something but don't do it. We get praised if we think of doing something bad, and then we have a mental battle and don't do that thing. And I don't mean just thinking up bad choices and getting freebies. Allah (Arabic for god) knows what we think.
Think of what Western society has become. Love here starts with a glance. Then a conversation. Then a hug. Then a date. Then a kiss. Then intercourse. Next thing you know, you become a slut with AIDS and end up with three illegimate children before college.
Islam requires deep devotion. There's no halfway mark. It's all or nothing. If you don't accept any one of the teachings, then you're not a Muslim. To Owen, that Muslim you dated probably wasn't a true Muslim or had a very weak faith.
Words from the Qu'ran (that's how it's spelled Christophe) say that there shall be no celebration or festivals outside of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. That may sound mean, but Eid a-Adha is half a week long and Eid al-Fitr is a whole month! Anything else shouldn't be taken seriously, or even better, ignored.
Are you aware of how ignorant this makes you sound?
Only I have the true faith! Only I know the correct path!
I would be less concerned about unmarried men and women mingling in public than of unmarried men and women mingling in private.
As for sluts with AIDS and three bastard children - is that the kind of exaggeration that colours the Muslim way of thinking about the western world? It reminds me of the "there are no homosexuals in Iran" idea.
I am a Muslim too and this is not entirely true, Radin. One Muslim should not tell another Muslim (or any other person from any religion, for that matter) that they don't have faith. It is true that Islam requires deep devotion, but it's a devotion between you and God alone; He is the only judge of character.
In the Qur'an itself, several verses mention that one should consistently focus on his/her own rightful actions and purifying one's own heart. If we judge other people or try to force others to act in a certain way, it hurts our relationships with people and can distract us from improving our own faith.
It's unfortunate that some so-called "conservative Muslims" around the world don't fully actualize all of the ideals in the Qur'an they claim to know so well. If we looked at all of the book and not just parts, you'll find that Islam is a balanced religion. It's the practice of Islam by Muslims today that is flawed, but then again, all of us are less than ideal in our own respects.
I, too, believe that these restrictions made by Saudi officials are ridiculous. I appreciate that some of you aren't judging the whole of Muslims by this stuff, though, even though I know it's hard to be open-minded after hearing things like this.
Do some culture wading before you write up your dissertations.